All But Forgotten: Meriam’s Saga in Sudan Still Hanging

While the world moves forward and focuses on other issues, one innocent 27 year-old woman is stuck in a never-ending nightmare from which it seems she cannot escape. And instead of her situation improving, things are only getting worse.

Dr. Meriam Yahia Ibrahim Ishag, the Sudanese Christian mother of two who was arrested last summer on grounds of apostasy and adultery, still remains captive in Sudan. Although the apostasy conviction was overturned and she is not currently imprisoned, she has been re-charged with fraud for attempting to use South Sudan travel documents bearing her Christian name and not the name of her biological father.

And now, to make matters much worse, a civil suit has been filed against her by an alleged family member for ‘leaving her family,’ ‘converting from Islam,’ and participating in an ‘illegal marriage’ to a Christian U.S. citizen.

But aside from the obvious, what’s frequently overlooked in all of this mess is that the U.S. has botched this situation from the outset. The U.S. is – quite possibly – completely responsible for all of Meriam’s troubles in the first place, and for that there is no excuse.

As a matter of fact, our U.S. Embassy’s repeated failures to assist Meriam’s U.S. citizen husband, Daniel Wani, prompted 38 bi-partisan members of Congress, spearheaded by U.S. Rep. Trent Franks, AZ D-8, to send a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry requesting that he facilitate extrication of the family from the hostile Sudan to safety in the U.S. where they would be granted sanctuary. Evidence indicates Mr. Kerry disregarded the letter.

According to Daniel, he has tried unsuccessfully for three years to obtain a visa for his wife so that they could travel to the U.S. When his wife became pregnant with their second child last summer he tried to meet with Embassy personnel on three separate occasions to plead for rightful travel permits for Meriam and their toddler son, Martin, also a legal U.S. citizen. During each visit Daniel was told by Embassy employees they didn’t have time to deal with the matter.

Joanne Moudy is the author of “The Tenth,” a paranormal thriller exploring the very real trauma of abortion in a fictional realm. She proudly served as an officer in the military for nine years, before specializing in emergency nursing until retirement. She speaks regularly on the subjects of religious freedom, traditional marriage, and pro-life, and the impact of liberalism and secularism on all of humanity. You can follow her on Twitter @composedof1.